What to Watch Verdict
Supergirl displays another strong array of emotions in "Lost Souls," even with the obvious twists at play.
Pros
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💥 Alex is faced with an impossible choice, and she lives up to the task.
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💥 Katie McGrath remains an absolute force.
Cons
- -
💥 Some might be turned off by the obvious plot twist in the Phantom Zone.
This post contains spoilers for Supergirl season 6 episode 4 "Lost Souls"
Check out our review of Supergirl season 6 episode 3.
Supergirl sees a whole lot of action on both planes in "Lost Souls." Supergirl, Nxylgsptinz, and Zor-El all have their hands full trying to escape the Phantom Zone while Sentinel, Martian Manhunter, Brainiac 5, Dreamer and Lena Luthor all do their best to stop the Phantoms on Earth from taking over their planet for good. There are a good number of fights in the episode but, as is pretty custom for the series, it's the emotional punches in "Lost Souls" that hit the hardest.
In the Phantom Zone proper, Nyx (Peta Sergeant), Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Zor-El (Jason Behr) rush to the anchor built into the Zone as a failsafe by Kara's mother. Though the three do make it to their destination and successfully activate the portal needed to get them back home to Earth, the obvious betrayal pulls from the impact of this storyline a little bit (no matter how fun it is to watch Nyx go full heel). What saves it is Kara's difficult choice to shatter the mirror which, as far as she knows at the time, is the only way to return to her planet with her father.
But Kara isn't the only one facing difficult choices this week. While Team Supergirl desperately works to get their leader back on their plane of existence, they find themselves met with a choice. They can save all of the souls taken by the now-zombie-like Phantoms, or they can get Kara back. Alex (Chyler Leigh) who arguably wants her sister back more than anyone else in the current story is forced to be the one to make that call, and it's made even more complicated by Lena's (Katie McGrath) opposition.
The two have an emotional conversation filled with the smart, complicated dialogue we've come to expect from Supergirl. Lena knows that it's wrong to let all of those people die, but she can't stand to lose the best friend she spent a year ostracizing. Even worse, she still believes that it's her fault that Kara's trapped in the Phantom Zone to begin with. On the flip side, it absolutely devastates Alex to not be able to choose her sister, but she knows the choice that Supergirl would make and has to honor that while she's not here to fight for the people of Earth.
It's a damn good conversation.
What will follow is an "into the zombie hoard" kind of action sequence where all but Sentinel is picked off one by one as they attempt to save the thousands lost to the Phantoms. The lack of stakes kind of pulls from the impact, but Brainy (Jesse Rath) gets a super cheesy "fly, you fools" moment, so, I'll allow it. Alex saves the day and everyone's souls return to their bodies. And she hated every second of it.
When she and Lena have their "what it means to be a hero" conversation later, Alex reveals that every fiber of her being told her to leave the rest of the world and get Kara out of her prison. Lena's worried that she doesn't belong on the team, but every single one of the heroes she's surrounded with feels the exact same way she does: Damn humanity, where is our hero? But they don't act on that, and that's the difference. It's a deeper conversation in morality than a lot of shows are willing to have, and it's nice to see it play out in such a succinct way between two friends over some scotch.
Brainy and Nia (Nicole Maines) have their own moments while the Brainiac and his level-5 intellect try and cope with all of the emotions he's feeling over constantly failing in his attempts to save Supergirl. Nia knows there's something up, she makes it clear that she's there, and then she leaves when her boyfriend refuses to open up. It's a nice call-out to being a support system but refusing to get caught up in the "please talk to me" of it all. Bonus: lots of donuts and complex emotions from both characters as they deal with their failures.
"Lost Souls" is exactly what it says on the tin. It's a bunch of lost people trying to hold each other up until they find their way. Supergirl, despite the explosive ending, will continue to do whatever she can to break through to Nyx and her father (both of which are most certainly still alive). Meanwhile, those left on Earth continue to carry on as best they can with what they were taught. Thankfully, we saw the despair of their loss early on and have now broken through to a kind of quiet, frustrated, and yes, sometimes sad determination as they all do their best with the hand they've been dealt.
